Has anyone ever bred from a horse who headshakes?

I know of three horses that headshake that are by the same stallion, but out of different mares. Leads me to believe that there is a hereditary link.
 
If the problem is allergy related then yes it will be hereditary. We have a head shaking mare and it turns out that so does her father. (obviously we were not told this before breeding):mad:
 
i discovered that the dam of one of mine is a headshaker, I was a little peeved when I found out, however, he is now 12 years old (i have owned him 10 years) and so far he has never shown any signs of headshaking, not in the slightest. So I guess it is not always going to comethru. Mind you, why chance it??
 
My mare is a head shaker, she didnt start head shaking until she was 11 years, and quite often head shakers dont start doing it until even later on in life. My mare has a tree pollen allergy, she started off as not that severe and it got progressivly worse over the years. However it is managed with a nose net when she is ridden for the whole year, and she wears a full face fly mask from April til end of October when she goes out in the field. She is also on a supplement for it. I really can't see what peoples problem is with owning a head shaker, its not the end of the world! My mare competed up to medium level affliated dressage, won at the Nationals etc and also competed in all other disciplines. Never caused a single problem.

She has bred me a gorgeous foal and is now in foal again. Her first foal is now 2 1/2 and has not shown any signs of head shaking. When i consulted with my vet the first time she went into foal he said there was no evidence at all to prove that it is hereditory and that even if the foal did turn out to be a head shaker it is perfectly manageable (as i have proved with my mare).
 
Sun said:
i discovered that the dam of one of mine is a headshaker, I was a little peeved when I found out, however, he is now 12 years old (i have owned him 10 years) and so far he has never shown any signs of headshaking, not in the slightest. So I guess it is not always going to comethru. Mind you, why chance it??
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What would it matter if your horse did turn out to be a headshaker? - which can still happen as i know some horses that havent shown it until in their teens. Its not a problem and is something that is perfectly manageable. Its not like your horse will die from it and you will never be able to ride it again!!
 
We have a mare that in a previous home head shaked so bad she kicked herself in the head. The people bred from her - perfect foal now 6 doesn't head shake. Mare now with us and has stopped head shaking.
 
Tempi said:
What would it matter if your horse did turn out to be a headshaker? - which can still happen as i know some horses that havent shown it until in their teens. Its not a problem and is something that is perfectly manageable. Its not like your horse will die from it and you will never be able to ride it again!!
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I'd sort of disagree with this; friend had a lovely horse whose headshaking got so bad she had to be put down - she was in constant distress even in the field and it couldn't be controlled. Extreme case I know, but it can happen. Luckily it can be controlled most of the time, but it is expensive (supplements) and when it isn't controlled it is horrid to deal with for both horse and rider. Headshaking is awful. :(
 
It does depend i guess on why the horse is head shaking in the first place though - i would think a case as severe as you have suggested would not be from an allergy. Generally head shaking caused by an allergy can be controlled/managed.

The supplements arent that expensive luckily, no more than any joint supplement. Bloss only has to be on it 6-7 months of the year aswell.

I have heard other horror stories about head shakers, but all have been caused by something internal and not an allergy.
 
Tempi said:
What would it matter if your horse did turn out to be a headshaker? - which can still happen as i know some horses that havent shown it until in their teens. Its not a problem and is something that is perfectly manageable. Its not like your horse will die from it and you will never be able to ride it again!!
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He is dressage horse, the impact on his life would be imense if it was not manageable!!
 
Tempi said:
My mare is a head shaker, she didnt start head shaking until she was 11 years, and quite often head shakers dont start doing it until even later on in life. My mare has a tree pollen allergy, she started off as not that severe and it got progressivly worse over the years. However it is managed with a nose net when she is ridden for the whole year, and she wears a full face fly mask from April til end of October when she goes out in the field. She is also on a supplement for it. I really can't see what peoples problem is with owning a head shaker, its not the end of the world! My mare competed up to medium level affliated dressage, won at the Nationals etc and also competed in all other disciplines. Never caused a single problem.

She has bred me a gorgeous foal and is now in foal again. Her first foal is now 2 1/2 and has not shown any signs of head shaking. When i consulted with my vet the first time she went into foal he said there was no evidence at all to prove that it is hereditory and that even if the foal did turn out to be a head shaker it is perfectly manageable (as i have proved with my mare).
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The dam of my horse was retired at 7 years old as the headshaking was unmanageble.
 
Probably depends on why the horse headshakes.

There is the obvious allergy-related headshaking - allergies are notoriously "hereditary" - though as with every other "hereditary" issues it might or might not be passed on to the offspring.

There is also a less well-known cause: photosensitivity, which comes up as a result of liver damage. That is much more difficult to manage, because it is due to the horse's intolerance of day/sunlight... but, that is unlikely to be hereditary because liver damage normally arises from management issues, feeding, ragwort poisoning, hepatitis...
 
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